I think totalizers are a good solution, and installed one on my main plane. For about $800 total including hoses and fittings an EI FP-5 was a very good investment, very accurate and allows me to operate comfortably for about one more hour, 3.5 hrs versus 2.5…. and that’s as long as I want to sit in the plane. Serendipity.
Totalizers have an advantage for many tail wheel planes in that they are unaffected by aircraft attitude, unlike gauges. However if you happen to fly a tailwheel plane with no battery you’re out of luck. You can’t fit a totalizer if you don’t have a battery. So on my #2 plane I stick the tanks before every flight, with a stick I calibrated myself. That works fine for wing tanks and no dihedral, and have never flown more than 3.25 hrs continuously on 5.5 hr range. This also allows 2 hrs out and 2 hrs back without too many worries, if you stick the tanks before the return flight.
There’s another factor in all this, especially if you rent – how full is ‘full’. On the C182RG I mostly fly (rent), only a little less than ‘to the gunwales’ results in several gallons missing, as the long-range tanks are very long and thin. Whenever I go on a long flight I tell the lineman to ‘fill ’er up till it overflows’ which gives me the full 75gls usable fuel. His normal way of filling up probably gives around 70gls…..
Btw I disagree with the notion of disregarding the POH figures. I just had a situation in the last few days where I did a 680nm flight into strong and variable headwinds. Using the long-range cruise setting from the POH I arrived at a fuel burn of 10gls/hr and landed with 15gls in the tanks after a 6 hr flight. In fact, the airplane burned a little less than POH figures (which would have given me 10.5 gls/hr). Surprisingly, in this airplane the gauges are actually quite accurate, although I would never rely solely on them!
All the above said – I’d love to either have a totalizer or accurate gauges. Will be one of the first things to put into my own airplane once I found one I like (currently looking for a C182).
172driver wrote:
On the C182RG I mostly fly (rent), only a little less than ‘to the gunwales’ results in several gallons missing, as the long-range tanks are very long and thin. Whenever I go on a long flight I tell the lineman to ‘fill ’er up till it overflows’ which gives me the full 75gls usable fuel. His normal way of filling up probably gives around 70gls…..
Yes, as an owner of such an aircraft I have a lot of stories. Once I’ve had a 20 min dispute at an airport where he claimed it was full and I claimed it was not full, the guy refused to add more but it was for a very long flight, had to get his boss and eventually the boss of the airport. It was a real pissing contest with a lot of shouting, I claimed 20l were missing, he claimed max 1l and in the end it was 21l.
In Zurich I made the mistake of not checking (after all, Switzerland) and the next morning I noticed that at least 30l were missing. Even if it insults the fuel guy, I always check the level and more often than not, it’s not full. My best experience was in Greece with GISCO, they have a policy of requiring the captain to climb up the ladder and check and close the cap himself. Very good.
This probably applies more to VFR “bottom feeders” than to IFR spaceships, but fuel flow rate in gallons per hour and miles per galon is one of the data I consider when leaning and selecting a cruising altitude.
The Maule’s gages are super-accurate 
, having cost the factory at least 10 cents each 20 years ago, but the O-360 can use anything from 25 to 50 litres per hour, so when part way through a 6-hour flight it’s reassuring to have Messrs Garmin and JPI calculate fuel remaining at destination.
“IFR spaceships” just made me smile after today’s night flight :-) good term
tomjnx wrote:
That apparently was part of the cause for the police helicopter “engine silence” and subsequent crash at night in Glasgow.
The accident investigation report doesn’t mention that. On the contrary, the pilot got several low fuel warnings.
Airborne_Again wrote:
On the contrary, the pilot got several low fuel warnings.
Yes but those warnings all came from different systems.
I posted this to counter the apparent expectation that fitting a capacitive fuel gauge would magically fix all problems with measuring fuel on board.
achimha wrote:
they have a policy of requiring the captain to climb up the ladder and check and close the cap himself.
I do that anyway. Always. Couldn’t care less if it pisses the fueller off, it’s my airplane and my life. End of story.
I check the exact fill at every refuel other than my home airport where they know how I want it.
Fuellers don’t care so long as you are polite about it.
I have found that fuelers actually ask me to check.
